Q. Over the next 12 months do you think your personal financial situation will get better, get worse or stay much the same?
| 29 Mar 10 | 28 Jun 10 | |
| Total better | 40% | 29% |
| Total worse | 23% | 31% |
| Get a lot better | 8% | 5% |
| Get a little better | 32% | 24% |
| Get a little worse | 17% | 21% |
| Get a lot worse | 6% | 10% |
| Stay much the same | 33% | 37% |
| No opinion | 4% | 4% |
Respondents were similarly divided over whether their personal financial situation will get better or worse over the next 12 months – 29% (down 11%) think it will get better and 31% (up 8%) worse. 37% (up 4%) think it will stay much the same. Although this represents a significant negative shift, it is not as big a shift as the overall economic outlook from the previous question.
Men (32% better/25% worse) were more optimistic than women (25%/35%). Optimism was also higher for upper income groups – those earning over $1,600 pw split 42% better/23% worse while those earning under $1,000 pw split 18% better/36% worse.